I have wrapped up a few of my starting blog posts! Maybe I'll even give a sneak peek here to one of them.

My blog isn't close to starting up, though. This is partly because I don't quite know how I want to launch it. I would actually like to make it more than just a blog, and since it is going to cover a wide range of topics I have different ideas for what I want to do with it. Thus, it is still very much in the planning phase. Don't want to jump in right away until I have a good sense of how I want to go about it.

Khajiit was wondering what happened to the blog you mentioned. Good to hear it's still a work in progress.

I appreciate that you are still interested in it, Khajiit. I may be trying to shoot too high with this project, so perhaps I should focus on making it simple and not worry too much about it. It is mostly supposed to be a self-fulfillment kind of thing, after all, but if I had the chance to make it something more than a simple blog with some extra stuff that would be cool. Still, I should probably just go for baby steps for now. It is something that will have to be slowly built anyway.

Part of why it is taking so long is I have just been busy with classes and other stuff, but admittedly sometimes I have had free time and did not feel like working on it. With the impending end to the calendar year I'm going to try to clamp down on it much more during my free time.

Project new old garage continues.

Today we boarded up the long side some more plus added an old window. It was an impulse thing; we knew we had it and I just happened to come to think of it. Forgot camera though so no pic untill tomorrow.


-Squirrels and gentlemer, start your foot-tapping!

Nothing much to report project wise, other than that I've been able to keep up daily exercise-walks. This is the first year since 2008 that I've had the willpower to walk every day it was realistically possible. Don't think there was a single day between whenever it was I started and now that I didn't walk simply because I couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to do so. Heck, I walked some days when it was somewhat risky due to inclement weather. (I carried, and occasionally used, an umbrella on those occasions.) I suspect daily walks will come to and end before too long as winter approaches. I haven't been able to handle cold temperatures well since battling pneumonia around the turn of the century. Winters here tend to not get as cold as they once did thanks to non existent climate-change, but they're still more than cold enough to suit me. A shame really, as I suspect that my daily walks contribute to me not having suffered one of my nasty periodic lung/chest "episodes" in a good many months...a first in at least three years.

Now, tomorrow looks to be one of those days I almost certainly won't be able to walk due to predicted rains and/or storms throughout the daylight hours. I'll keep an eye on things an make an attempt if possible, but I'm not holding my breath.

Project update.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

Inside
Outside


These are not telling the truth, btw. We're actually done boarding up the long side but I'm gonna tease you by not posting another pic until next year when it's been painted. Plus, there are still minor details to work on and I want it all done and then show the end result

Blogging, walking and garage building! S'nice!

Only an abbreviated exercise-walk today. I blame a combination of weather and age/health. Set out circa 1230 in what an online weather page for my town said was 61F temp and 20mph wind under overcast skies. I did ok at the start, with the wind at my back. Soon as I reached the end of our street and turned into the wind I knew it was too much. I managed to finish a third of my normal route but was shivering and beginning to hack by then so called it quits. Tomorrow is expected to be sunny and a bit warmer. <crosses fingers>

Yesterday's project (other than walking, which I did that afternoon) was to install a phone / answering machine I recently bought my brother. (An early Xmas gift.) Ended up being a two hour project. Even then we weren't able to set some functions thanks to a chappy abbreviated manual that didn't always explain how to make necessary adjustments. I found the full manual online after I got home so will print out the pages we need to finish setup.

Drove into town for six-month follow-up medical appointment this morning. Perfect timing! For a bit less than a week I've suffered off and on from discomfort and mild queasiness somewhere in my digestive system. These discomforts have been relatively mild...until today. I woke this morning in relatively strong pain and accompanyi9ng nausea. Thought I was going to throw up for a while there but didn't. Thankfully things calmed down somewhat upon lying on the sofa following my shower.

Cut to the chase, a pre-scheduled urinalysis test reveals that I have an Urinary Track Infection. Conveniently, it's treated by the very antibiotic I take monthly to combat lung issues. As the month is nearly over I'll simply start November's 10-day treatment early and hope for the best.

Got in my exercise walk a bit after lunch. No sense doing a heart reading as one was taken during this morning's medical appointment. My guess is that I'll be forced to forego walking tomorrow due to rain and cold weather. We shall see.

Here's hopes for a better tomorrow, Decrepit!

Yes, sorry about your discomfort, Decrepit. Sure hope those antibiotics help - quickly.

That was me, but I divorced them, lol.

This is looking spectacular for such a short time! Wait, not another shot till NEXT YEAR? GAAAAAAH !!!!












Oh gosh, hope you get feeling better real soon!

Weeell, I have sort of backpaddled on this. I will post another pic but we need to do something first. But you won't have to wait until next year because it will probably not be finished until late summer and that's way too far into the future

Welp, Khajiit tasted his hard apple cider today. Another attempt, another failure. This batch picked up a yeasty taste, probably due this one neglecting it in the primary fermenter for longer than he should have. Looks like Khajiit's customary Halloween hard apple cider will have to be Strongbow store bought brand again this year.

Live and learn

Yeah, suppose so.

Khajiit forgot the time or did he miscalculate?

Yeah forgot.

(but happy I won't have to wait till next year to see how it is going!!!)





BWAAHAA! How do you know when Hard Cider has failed?

Well, you know when you taste it. As stated in the quoted post, this batch picked up a bad yeasty taste.

*buys Khajiit egg timer for Christmas*




------------------------

Progress today!


I know I said I wouldn't post anything until it's all done, but since that won't be until late summer next year and I have no patience, here are som pics


Outside before

Outside after

Inside before

Inside after

Behindish

Woot! We gots walls!

Lol, do they make egg timers you can set for weeks ata time?

Nice! Lookin' good 'Rocu!

This is another Awesome shed by the Mirocu team!!! You do excellent work!!!


... Er, isn't that a bear cage on that trailer?

Balanced my computerized checking & savings account ledgers.

Walked circa 1430. Had all but given up on the day. Even at 1430 it was just barely warm enough. (I also got in a full walk yesterday.) Not sure I'll be able to walk tomorrow. It'll be warmer, but rainy.

Prepared two utility bill payments.

Warmer day today, so was able to get my exercise-walk out of the way mid-morning. Yesterday, I walked mid afternoon between showers (carried an umbrella but didn't need it).

Contributed what little I could (very little indeed, but better than nothing) to three political campaigns.

ADDENDUM: Forgot to mention I called my D.C. Representative office to inform him of my dissatisfaction with something he supports. (Not that it'll do a lick of good.) If I were to call my two congressmen to complain of all they do that I oppose, I'd never get off the bloody phone.

I've already got today's exercise-walk out of the way. Overcast skies (I carried but didn't need an umbrella). Temperature in the low sixties. Mild but warm wind. Best walk I've had in some time. Even got in a bit of what laughingly passes for power-walking at the end. Course I'm always at my sub par best between waking and mid morning, so was in my element.

Forgot to mention a project of sorts yesterday: That evening my online news channel of choice ran a much extended daily program with many special announcements and interviews. Ate supper a bit early so I could catch the start. Hung around as long as I could, but me being me gave out maybe 45min before the end.

Also forgot to mention my brother's ongoing project. Starting maybe two months ago he's been bringing over the letters I wrote home during my military days and reading them aloud to me....five per visit. He gets a big kick out of it. Me, I treat it as punishment for past sins, especially letters from those early years, my initial four-year enlistment in particular. I was a real piece of work back by then, and not shy about broadcasting it. (I'm still a piece of work. Only, nowadays I have the good sense to disguise it...much of the time.)

He reads away. I sit in my chair, elbows on thighs, hands covering eyes, shaking my head, moaning. Well, obviously not all the time. But often enough.

Coming up somewhere these next several visits will be the letter containing an event so horrifically shameful I dislike even thinking about it. I've already told him that this is the ONE letter section that I will insist he read to himself rather than aloud, resuming oral narrative only after it concludes. If I had had a lick of sense I'd not have set it down on paper. I know myself well enough to suspect it to have been chronicled in great detail.

Believe it or not, for some years I thought to borrow all those letters and type them in my PC word processor, for possible use in a dairy of sorts. Only a few letter readings convinced me otherwise.

I suppose I should stress that nothing in the letters is in any way criminal. It's just that...well, as stated I was a piece of work for some years. Oddly or not, I wouldn't dream of destroying them. I value truth and honesty too much for that. Besides, as a lover of history I couldn't bear to destroy records of the past.

Old letters coming back to haunt you!

Alas, good judgment comes from experience...and ironically it seems, the most instructive experience comes from bad judgment. So what can ya do?

Today's exercise-walk is done and over with. It went well, despite narrowly avoided peril at the very end. As I passed by my next door neighbors' driveway, he chose that exact time to head out for work. He was looking the other direction, thus did not see me. Had I not noticed, come to an abrupt stop, then back up a bit, he'd have plowed into me. As it was my body was only a few inches from his pickup. No harm done. It didn't even rattle me. Just a isolated moment of bad luck that came to nothing. That or he's either a good judge of human character or a music lover, two groups who might wish me ill.

Had another rough night due to digestive system issues. Went to bed (sofa) around 2100 feeling reasonably well (for me), intending to read at least an hour before nodding off. Only, before too long intense pain set in. It plagued me for hours, at which time I took a sleeping pill so I could get a bit of shuteye. Woke feeling much better, though it still bothers me a bit. Unlike last time, this pain is much more concentrated in one small area. That worries me, as my own self-research indicates that Urinary Track Infection can cause "stones." Not a pleasant thought. I'll run it all be my doc when I see him this coming Thursday for a followup. (Assuming I can hold out until then.)

All the best wishes, Decrepit!

Bless your heart! I don't think this should wait till next Thursday, some things shouldn't wait and this sounds like one of them. Please take good care of yourself, there are times for toughing things out and times you shouldn't do it. I think this is one of those times that you should be smart instead of tough. I worry so much over you with all this going on this past month or so.


** PS: And thank goodness you dodged your neighbor's critique on your music choices!

You misunderstand. What I mean to say is that those whose memories stretch back far enough to recall my long ago musical performances are apt to hold grudges.

My doc's office finally returned my call. This week's appointment has been moved from Thursday to tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.

Haven't had another major "episode" since the one Friday night. Did have what seemed to be the start of one Sunday afternoon minutes after lying down to read. Strange thing is, once I stood up the pain all but vanished with a minute or so. Nor did it reappear when I laid back down, except as a slight discomfort in that area, which didn't last overly long. Since then I've had no real episodes, but the small area from whence they originate is a bit sensitive. When I cinched my belt before heading out on my grocery run this morning that same area stung for a while. I notice it's presence even now that I'm back in sweats.

Finally got in a full exercise-walk after having missed two days in a row due to errands and weather. Almost didn't go out today, as circa 52F temp felt too cold. Then it dawned on me to don my old military field jacket and switch to a thicker toboggan. That did the trick, though I can't say the walk was comfortable. Wish I'd thought of the field jacket sooner, as it might well have allowed me to walk Monday.

Nothing came of yesterday's PCM appointment, other than a urine test that cleared me of Urinary Track Infection. The doc wasn't much interested in my new symptom, which thankfully hasn't bothered me much these past few days.

I've handled this recent time change surprisingly well. I wake earlier by the clock than usual, but not enough so to do me in. More bothersome is becoming super sleeping not terribly long after supper, which I normally eat between 1600 and 1700. But what can ya do other than fight it off as long as possible?

As for today, I got in my exercise-walk circa noon, two hours before scheduled. Not a bad day for a walk. Sunshine. Low sixties. Very light breeze. It's projected to be a good ten degrees cooler tomorrow.

Called my DC Senator (a lost cause) and Representative (mostly but not totally lost) to inform them to oppose ...hmmm, maybe I'll leave it there. As stated before, I dread these calls, as I can't stay concentrated long enough to effectively speak my message. My first call (the Rep) was fairly pathetic due to that. The second (Senator) went appreciably better.

I've no other plans for the day other than the usual...supper and the internet.

Dental exam/cleaning 0800. Went well as usual.

Groceries at Walmart on the way home. Circa $38US this week, $2 of which was for cheapo measuring scoops rather than food. Intended to buy beets to add to my salad suppers...too expensive.

Drove home. Put away groceries. Drove to our local auto repair shop due to dashboard BRAKE light coming on occasionally during today's drives. Left car with shop for brake job. Was driven home. WowButter sammich for lunch.

Called DC Representative to tell him to vote against.....

Tried calling medical clinic to check on Colonoscopy Test scheduling. Their phones malfunctioned.

Exercise-walk circa 1400. Went well.

Got my repaired car back early afternoon. $341.99 bill. More than I wanted to pay, of course. Truth to tell I was expecting $350-500+, so won't complain too loudly. So far as I know, this it the first time the car needed brake work in its nearly 20yrs of existence. (I inherited the car from my mom.)

Got my exercise-walk out of the way soon as I got home.

Logged care repair expense in my PC checking account ledger. I placed it until "spending money." It now comes to me that I need to edit the ledger and split the cost between spending money, my meager monthly car upkeep fund, and my slush fund. It comes out the same no matter how I divide or don't divide it. But dividing it gives me a better idea of how much "spending money" remains to see me through the month.

Glad to hear you got your car back okay Decrepit, and that it didn't break the bank.

This week has really tried me as far as getting my hopefully still functional PC back up and running.

I've managed to take it apart to get at the PSU and it's many, MANY built-in cables. Had to remove the RAM just so I could have more room to painfully pry the cables from the motherboard, and I also had to remove the GPU just so I could remove one (1) cable. Butterfly locks are hard to remove when one is covered up by a heat sink. :v

Now I'm not sure if the RAMs securely in place, and I pretty much have to leave the GPU disconnected until I get the new PSU so I don't have to deal with removing it again. (I haven't even ordered it yet) And also my fingers are sore. I hope I didn't end up damaging the motherboard with all my fumbling

Can't wait to get back to playing.

I feel your pain. Power supplies are the biggest pita of all computer parts to replace, well, except for the motherboard.

I was gonna dispute this, but thinking on it realize PSUs can indeed be a major hassle to replace. The huge size of my "new" PC's CPU air cooler makes some components that normally aren't hard to work with a chore. AIO water coolers definitely have an advantage in this regard. Yeah, motherboards are about the worst. An add-on CPU cooler with required back-plate is equally painful...if your case doesn't have a mobo tray with CPU cutout large enough to not need to remove the motherboard first.

One of the worst parts of power supplies is making sure you buy one with enough of/the right connectors for your video card. Some of them are 8 pin, some 6. Usually PSU's come with some cables that will go both ways (by making the 7th and 8th pin possible to pop off to turn it into a 6 pin). But not all do. When I was running two gpus in an SLI that was 4 power cables right there.

Honestly the cables were one of my biggest worries when picking a new PSU. The one I'm replacing was pretty beefy for a prebuilt PC but geeze was it a mess o cables just so it could cover every single component. At least the cables are modular?

As someone with little experience building PCs I kinda dread the inevitable motherboard replacement, though. Part of me wishes I had built this thing on my own when my brother-in-law was still around so I could learn it while having access to help. Welp, I guess this little project will be my introduction.

YouTube is full of Computer Tech type videos, mostly dominated by what I'll term "tech kids," relatively young folk who mostly test/review products and assemble computers from parts sent them by manufacturers. My favorite YouTube PC tech channel is different. It's the sole work of a comparatively older fellow who is an actual Computer Technician. His primary main line of work has been assembling and supporting PCs for businesses and individuals for over 25yrs. He films himself working on actual client machines, with no paid for product pushing in sight. I like the guy's delivery style. He tends to be very thorough in explaining how and why he does what he does.

Here's a couple of representative video segments:

Broken AMD Computer Diagnostic from 2015.

Kaby Lake Build from early 2017. This is a pretty basic build, with only one storage device and on-board video rather than a separate graphics card. Still, it demonstrates his thoroughness explaining the building process step by step. (My Notua CPU air cooler was easy to install, certainly much more so than the cooler seen here. Course these days many will opt for AIO water cooling.)

He certainly does like to utilize Corsair products!
Seems like a fun guy, Khajiit could see himself watching one of his videos if he needed to know how to do something.

This one would like to add:
@Monkey- Khajiit built his current PC with little more than this how to guide from IGN and the installation instructions that came with the components themselves. This one is still amazed at how relatively easy the process was!

Wow, musical performances? Do tell more, I'm all ears! I mean, you don't need to give your name, but at least the music style or genre?

*mALX pulls out old records and taps foot impatiently...*

That is an awesome record on how long that car has not needed repairs! Wow! Glad you found a decent price on redoing the brakes, that is really reasonable comparatively. Around here that would be considered a very low price for a relatively simple brake job. (no extras like grinding rotors, etc).






How anyone can have the guts to pull apart a computer and fiddle around with it = it just floors me! Ghastley and Subrosa; Treydoggie; Decrepit; and now you! And Haute completely floored me by actually building her own gaming computer!

I have to take mine to the repair shop and pay exorbitant prices just to have them spray the dust off for me!!!! And it isn't like I just have the gold laying around to do it, I have to save up for that! Holy Cow, if I ever stuck my hands in there, I can guarantee it would never work again, lol. I am so in awe of anyone who can do it and actually fix something in there!

We really need a bowing down emoticon on this site; I have been stunned by how many of our members or those I've talked to on ESO that can muck around inside computers and end up with a working gaming PC when done!!!! Just plain Awesome!









Wow, that guy is amazing! I think I actually learned something from watching his vids, and I don't have a technical bone in my body!!! Good vids, thanks for posting those!

Actually, if you look back through some my earliest posts here (not saying which sub-forum(s) and thread(s) there should be vague references to my so-called musical past, including one photo of me in the act of butchering music. Beyond info already supplied, I do not wish to divulge much about that phase of my life, other than that I am honesty surprised (and thankful) I was allowed to continue with it as long as I did. Even back then I knew myself to be no more than a flawed mediocrity, but hindsight being 20/20 I now know myself to have been even worse. (As I might have mentioned before, one of my very few positive traits is the ability to be honest about myself...up to a point.)

Believe it or not, there was once a number of videos available at YouTube of performances of which I was a member. Thankfully, they were all removed quite a while ago, likely due to copyright infringement. (I'd not mention this were any still available.)

I know this sounds all doom & gloomy. There were fun times back in those days too. In fact, had I the sense to throw in the towel two to three years earlier than I did I'd have a better overall opinion of my misbegotten musician days. (There were solid self-serving reasons I held out those extra years.)

Aw! And it is not "honesty" really because = although it is honestly how you feel about it; that is because you are your own worst critic. I remember how badly you downplayed your gameplay vids, and they are the most entertaining I've ever seen! So I have no doubt you were just as good musically as you were as a video producer, lol.